7870 Ghz or 660 for budget gaming build

[vertexx]

I'm down to selecting a GPU for my nephew's $600 gaming build and I'm down to the following two GPU's.

SAPPHIRE 100354OC-2L Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB for $170 (price drop just today plus $15 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202025

or

EVGA 02G-P4-2660-KR GeForce GTX 660 2GB for $170 after rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130825

I have reviewed other 7870 vs 660 forums, and the consensus is the 7870 Ghz. However, in light of frame rate consistency, there is some sentiment that the 660 will provide an overall better gaming experience.

For example:
http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4041/amd-radeon-hd-7870-ghz-edition-vs-nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-frametimes-review

Any thoughts? Looking to make a decision today since rebates expire.

Thanks!

 

[Jaxem]

I went for the 7870 over the 660 because i do a bit of accelerated computing, and the OpenCL support for AMD cards is much better, i've never had any issues with framerates or seeing stutters or anything like that. So i would still say 7870, because it's more powerful, and the gap will only get bigger as AMD improves its drivers to fix some of the frame issues. Just my $0.02

 

[vertexx]

Ok - so now to complicate things, I just found this deal on a 7870 LE (Tahiti).

http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=78372&vpn=AX7870%202GBD5-2DHPPV3E&manufacture=PowerColor&promoid=1062

It nets out to $35 more, but it includes the full Never Settle bundle (Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, FC3, Crysis 3). I figured the real value of these on e-bay is currently $40-45, so that evens out the price.

We're getting a Phenom II X4 970 CPU and plan to overclock that. Is that going to be enough CPU to get the additional benefit out of the 7870 LE? Is this Powercolor 7870LE worth it?

 

[Jaxem]

Most games don't tax the CPU too much, so i would think it should be fine, though the Phenom II's are getting a little long in the tooth. The AMD bundle is starting to dissapear everywhere as retailers are running out of codes to give away. I got my 7870 with the bundle, and they are some really good games it came with (all those but Crysis 3), i'd say it's totally worth the upgrade, you can always sell the codes and end up paying less for a better card. I've never bought a Powercolor product, but i've avoided them mainly because they're always cheapest when looking at the same level of card, and that usually doesn't bode well for quality. I know they're one of the few that does the Tahiti LE thing though... A two year warranty isn't bad, so it's your call, could be a great buy.

 

[bowzef]

HD7870 with bundle then OC it but i suggest new CPU.... but... depending on how far you OC, do you have aftermarket cooler? something like h100 or really good air cooler? then possibly work out ok, does depend on games you play, example Battlefield 3 is CPU taxing when playing online and you will have bottleneck in that game with that CPU depending how far it can OC to i suggest getting a bulldozer 6 core

 

[vertexx]

Getting the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065) CPU cooler.

I have a Phenom II X4 965 (non-black) overclocked to 4Ghz in one of my builds, and I run a fully modded skyrim with no CPU bottle-necking, but I haven't played Battlefield 3 with it. We're getting the 970 black edition, which is just slightly faster than the 965 - not sure if it will OC more or not. I really couldn't find a better performing CPU in this price range.

I also have a Powercolor 7850 overclocked. The fan quality isn't the best, so I've had to play with the case cooling to get better airflow. I've read that this 7870 LE has a standard heat-sink mount and that we could upgrade with a better aftermarket GPU cooler at some point.

This is also not the cheapest Powercolor 7870 LE. There is one model slightly cheaper that has very mixed reviews.

 

[bowzef]

Getting the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065) CPU cooler.

I have a Phenom II X4 965 (non-black) overclocked to 4Ghz in one of my builds, and I run a fully modded skyrim with no CPU bottle-necking, but I haven't played Battlefield 3 with it. We're getting the 970 black edition, which is just slightly faster than the 965 - not sure if it will OC more or not. I really couldn't find a better performing CPU in this price range.

This is also not the cheapest Powercolor 7870 LE. There is one model slightly cheaper that has very mixed reviews.

4ghz OC is good that will work, ok and with GPU i do suggest looking at renown brands such as Saphire and Gigabyte and asus and MSI and possibly XFX, but i has never used powercolor before so i can't say, and if u plan buy aftermarket cooler your better of just buying one with already aftermarket cooler coz it be cheaper in longer run and won't avoid any warranty, once u take the cooler of the GPU warranty is gone

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131501

thats prob best powercolor HD 7970 LE i can see and only one i would suggest getting

 

[vertexx]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131501

thats prob best powercolor HD 7970 LE i can see and only one i would suggest getting

I'm pretty sure that is actually not an LE version. It's Pitcairn, as you can tell by the memory clock and the # of shader units. It would specify Tahiti or "LE".

I do agree that it has a better cooling setup though.

But the Powercolor I referenced above actually does have decent reviews.

 

[vertexx]

So, to sum up, I'm looking at:

1. EVGA GTX 660 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130825) at $170 net, plus Splinter Cell Blacklist bundled. Slightly slower than the 7870s but at this time probably better frame consistency. Also, 3 year warranty, and IMO EVGA the better brand card.

2. Sapphire 7870 Ghz Edition (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202025) for $170 net. Better overall performance than 660, but slightly poorer frame-time consistency. I also believe it overclocks better than the 660 to get even more performance. Decent cooler, and Sapphire is a decent brand (but this card is frankly pretty ugly), 2 year warranty.

3. Powercolor 7870 LE (http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=78372&vpn=AX7870%202GBD5-2DHPPV3E&manufacture=PowerColor&promoid=1062) for net $195, plus the full 4-game never settle bundle (I value at $40-45 based on e-bay availability). Best GPU but probably weakest brand. This one looks to be slightly better quality than typical Powercolor, it does have decent reviews, and is not the cheapest Powercolor - this one is (http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=80887&vpn=AX7870%202GBD5-2DHPPV2E&manufacture=PowerColor&promoid=1087) - It has a 2 year warranty.

All driven by a Phenom II X4 970 which I'm assuming can overclock to 4.0-4.2 Ghz.

Any final thoughts greatly appreciated!

 

[17seconds]

The 7870 LE is going to come in at right about the same level as the 7870 Devil card. So rule out the 7870 GHz, mainly because it doesn't offer anything over the GTX 660, which comes with a free game and PhysX, Adaptive VSync, TXAA, FXAA, Geforce Experience, Shadowplay, etc.

So then all you need to do is decide on the value of the 7870 LE with the game bundle versus the less expensive GTX 660 with a single game.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7870_Devil/26.html

 

[bowzef]

i think HD7870 Devil is way to go!!! and then even push OC more !! due to fact cooler is more suited for better temps you can go with 660ti though is 192bit and HD7870 i think is 256bit memory, and when you start up rez and AA the 660ti plummets due to lack of memory bandwidth

like point out that banchmark is wrong HD7950 is better then 660ti HD 7950 is very close to HD7970 performance and 660ti does not come close to 7970

 

[vertexx]

We ended up going with the Powercolor Radeon HD 7870 PCS+ MYST.(TAHITI LE) at $204 after rebate with the full 4-game never settle bundle:

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=78372&promoid=1062

Decision was based on:

1. General consensus on this post to go with 7870 over the 660.

2. Target budget $165-175. This price of $204 was already above budget, but the full 4-game bundle made it OK to spend the extra cash (this eliminated the Devil option).

3. Generally positive reviews linked below, but understanding we'll have to pay attention to temps. These reviews show there is some headroom on the default fan profile, but that will need to be managed against the additional noise:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/tahiti-le-7870-7930-benchmark,3401.html
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/powercolor_hd7870_myst/

4. Nephew not really caring about noise or power efficiency, just wanting the biggest, baddest GPU his dad would agree to buy. Plus, he's now loaded up with games!

Thanks for the help guys! I'm looking forward to seeing how this $200 card will perform!